A hodgepodge post

We are enjoying a lovely spring-like day, with temps in the low 50s. Our road is once again turning into a mudhole! But it's so nice to be able to go outside in lighter clothes and feel the sunshine and warm air for a change.

Jim and I have been busy this week trying to get our financial records all in order to do last year's taxes. Yes, we are procrastinators in the worst way! I think we have everything almost all recorded and ready to plug into Turbo Tax. Hopefully we'll be getting a bit of a refund again this year, rather than having to pay anything in. Last year was our first year to actually get a refund since we've been married (thanks to Sam)! Oh the joys of self-employment. :)

Sam had a rough night for some reason last night--he usually sleeps straight through and gets up around 7 am or so, but he woke up crying around 12:30 am and was out of his bed when Jim went in to see what was wrong. Jim got him settled back down, and he slept well the rest of the night, but was up for the day at 5:30 am, although he did snooze in our bed for a few minutes after that. I finally gave up trying to sleep (or get him to) at 6:30 and got up with him. Fortunately he is now taking a nice long nap. :)

Around the Blogosphere:

In my blog-surfing (which I try to not spend too much time on, but there are so many interesting blogs out there!) I've come across some great topics, both recently and in months past. Here's a sampling, for the fun of it:

~Check out my mom's blog, Across My Kitchen Table, for recipes and more. My mom is one of the best cooks I know and has many tried and true recipes to share! Here's a great post that she did a while back about saving money in the kitchen.
~Erin has recently been posting about frugality, especially in regard to meals. She also had some great comments in response to her post about packing creative lunches for her husband. I always enjoy Erin's blog; she is a blessing and encouragement!
~Alicia posted about cloth diapering and got some good comments, as well. I used cloth some with Sam, and I hope to more with the next baby. I just need to motivate myself to put in the little bit of extra work that comes with washing and all. I think this would help us save some money over the next few years, hopefully! I also posted a little bit about some cloth diapers I got way back last year, if anyone is interested. Crystal also has an informative post about cloth diapering here.
~Here's another one for those who like to cook: the Recipe Swappers blog features a different topic every month (this month's is main dish salads), and there are some yummy looking recipes on there!

I'm sure once I get this posted, I'll come across more blogs that I could have linked to--but I 'll have to save them for another day. :) It is a lot of fun to see what others are writing about, and get a peek into their lives.

I had a good shopping spree at Marshalls a couple days ago. My sister-in-law had told me they were having some great clearance sales right now, so I headed in there to look at clothes for Sam for next winter. I came out with more than I intended . . . 3 boys' winter jackets, an Eddie Bauer shirt for Sam to grow into, and 3 baby girls' items: one jumper, one little one piece outfit, and a sweater. I doubt that we are having a girl, but at the kind of prices these things were going for, I couldn't resist. I figure I can either pass them on to someone else with a girl, or sell them on Ebay and make a little money. That's what I plan to do with the 2 extra winter jackets I bought, only I figure I would want to wait till next fall, when more people will be thinking about winter clothing. Anyway, I got all 7 items for $12.70; these were marked down from $25, $15, etc. The most expensive item was a Timberland jacket for $5. The cheapest was the baby girl sweater, for .70. I love deals like that! :)

I tried a new pizza dough recipe last night, which turned out really good. So far I have found two yummy recipes for making dough in the bread machine. Just in case anyone else would like to try them, here they are:

Pizza Dough

1 c. water, room temperature
2 T. olive oil or veg. oil
3 c. all purpose flour
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. active dry yeast

Combine all ingredients in bread machine pan in order suggested by manufacturer. Use the dough setting . . . when finished, roll out to desired shape, put on pizza pan, add toppings and bake 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and it looks how you like it. :)

Wheat Pizza Dough (this is the one we tried last night)--originally from the May/June 2000 issue of Quick Cooking magazine

1 c. water (70-80 degrees F)
2 T. olive or veg. oil
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. dried basil
1/4 t. garlic powder
2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
2 1/4 t. active dry yeast

Comine all ingredients in bread machine pan in order suggested by manufacturer. Use the dough setting; check after 5 minutes and add 1 to 2 T. of water or flour if needed. When cycle is complete, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Punch down; cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Roll out to fit two 12" pizza pans, or one larger (14-16") pan. Add toppings; bake at 400 degrees F. for 18-20 minutes or until the cheese is as brown as you like it. :)

Well, I suppose I should go ahead and get this posted before my little guy wakes up and I get interrupted. :) Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!!